U.S. Carpet Market: Once again, residential woes held back carpet marketshare gains – May 2026

By Darius Helm

Last year, commercial carpet again outpaced residential carpet, where underperforming lower and middle price points drove residential sales down over 5%. Commercial carpet was down about 2%. Total U.S. carpet consumption fell about 4% to $7.226 billion from a revised $7.516 billion in 2024, according to Market Insights.

Over the last 15 years, the residential carpet market has transformed from a nylon-dominated landscape to a largely PET market—by most accounts, PET makes up about 85% of residential carpet. While there’s still a niche market for nylon at those entry-level 25-ounce weights, nylon starts to become more prevalent at middle and higher price points. And the top of the market is largely nylon, along with some wool and specialty synthetics.

GAINS AT THE HIGHER END

It’s that higher end of the market that has been showing the most resilience in the residential channels. “The premium space has been strong,” says Joe Semaan, Mohawk’s president of residential carpet, noting a strong appetite for elevated design and more plush, heavier face weighs, as well as continued adoption by the dealer base. And Engineered Floors COO James Lesslie also reports a shift to heavier weights at the higher end.

In recent years, decorative carpet, a top tier of the market that includes a lot of woven and hand-tufted products, typically the domain of firms like Stanton, has been targeted by brands at the high end of machine-made broadloom, like Shaw’s Anderson Tuftex, Mohawk’s Karastan and The Dixie Group’s Masland and Fabrica, which have been importing decorative carpet styles from overseas, made of fibers and blended fiber systems including wool, silk, linen, cotton and synthetics like acrylic and polypropylenes for a range of lusters and effects. Estimates for the size of the U.S. decorative market start at $400 million to $500 million. 

Just about all the mills that deal in decorative carpet report that sales in that category are healthy and growing. And it’s not just because the wealthy are buffered from the volatile economy; it’s also because decorative rugs, and higher-end patterned goods in general, are increasingly being fabricated into custom rugs designed to perfectly fit into homeowner spaces. 

Semaan notes that broadloom custom-cut into rugs and runners is not confined to the decorative segment, and there’s growth even in the middle of the market, though he acknowledges that it’s not likely to penetrate the lower end.

However, Jamie Welborn, Shaw’s vice president of carpet product, contends that the fabrication strategy circumvents hard surface’s share gain over carpet by layering on top of all that wood, LVT and laminate, and this could help carpet regain marketshare.

At the lower and middle price points, carpet manufacturers are also trying their best to elevate their offering, including adding higher-chroma foundation colors (like Engineered Floors’ Spectrum I/II/III) to their textured goods and adding more patterns and constructions, including berbers.

CHALLENGES AT THE LOWER END

Typically, when the market is depressed, everyone from builders to homeowners is looking to spend less money, and they look to lower price point products. We’ve seen reports on this from the builder market, where flooring often faces the brunt of cuts, coming as it does in the final stages of homebuilding, which has helped sustain that low-end SPC market.

However, the least expensive installed product is carpet, not LVT. So, why hasn’t carpet fared better in this downturn?

We asked the mills, and they offered a range of explanations. Carpet has a perception problem. And while it doesn’t help that lower-end carpet often isn’t much to look at, and those 25-ounce products aren’t exactly plush and cozy, the consensus is that the fundamental issue surrounds indoor air quality.

There remains a perception, originally derived from a Swedish study from 1989 that linked carpet with allergens and hence allergic reactions, contributing to a long-term wave of carpet deselection. The study has been debunked extensively and comprehensively over the decades, but as we all know, accusations always outshine denials and refutations—at least in the near term.

Ripping out old dirty carpet is iconic TV gold for the demo segment of home improvement episodes, on par with tearing out popcorn ceilings and excavating bathrooms, and the strongest contrast—the biggest bang for the buck, in terms of the viewing experience—is to replace that carpet with the clean, crisp lines of hard surface flooring and achieve the goal of creating a new space that is both beautiful and healthy for its occupants. 

And the pros on these shows may well believe the myth, but the science clearly says otherwise, demonstrating time and again that carpet captures and traps allergens from the air much like any air filter, improving air quality, with vacuuming to permanently remove the allergens from the space, while allergens settle on hard surface flooring and lift back into the air at the slightest waft, unimpeded. Also, in terms of allergen and dust removal, vacuuming carpets is much more effective than vacuuming hard surface flooring.

Furthermore, today’s pet-friendly carpet products are designed to maximize cleanability, with treatments to repel dust and dirt, easing removal, like Shaw’s R2X, and waterproof backings, like its Lifeguard product. And Mohawk’s new Pur-Ease probiotic technology for its SmartStrand triexta carpet literally consumes allergens—achieving Asthma & Allergy Friendly certification.

And so, the challenge for the industry, and for industry leaders like Shaw, Mohawk and Engineered Floors, is to find a way to rewrite carpet’s story, to make inroads with young consumers and perhaps to turn carpet’s perceived weakness into its greatest strength. 

LOOKING AHEAD

For many mills, this year started off fairly well, but impacts from the war with Iran quickly slowed everything down. Manufacturers are already raising prices as crude oil soars and pipelines shrink for petroleum byproducts. Outlooks for a recovery this year have dimmed, but hopes are high that a fairly quick resolution to the flow of crude oil will lead to a stronger finish to the year.

New designs, colors and technologies introduced at the start of this year signal that the carpet industry is stepping up its game to compete more effectively with hard surface flooring at lower and middle price points. It’s a good strategy ahead of a market upturn, though its success rests heavily on how effectively it gets the word out.

THE TOP FIVE

Over half of Shaw Industries’ total revenues come from its carpet business, split about 70/30 between residential and commercial. Last year, carpet revenues were down over 3%, marginally ahead of the market, to an estimated $2.58 billion. 

The firm is just coming off a multi-year $1 billion investment in its carpet operations, mostly at its facilities in Aiken, South Carolina and Andalusia, Alabama, with enhancements and upgrades to its fiber technologies as well as the addition of significant new extrusion capacity. The Aiken facility can produce either nylon 6 or PET, both white-dyeable and solution-dyed, but it’s currently producing only PET, and recent investments have also helped it use more recycled content in its PET fiber.

Following a long tenure with Mohawk, Jamie Welborn joined Shaw last summer as vice president of carpet product. Welborn cites Shaw’s focus on technology as a key differentiator in the market, including its stain and soil resistance treatment, R2X, which was originally introduced as a topical treatment for nylon carpet a quarter century ago and later extended to its other synthetic fiber platforms. And now that treatment is no longer topical—it’s integrated into the fiber during extrusion. Other notable differentiators include its waterproof Lifeguard backing, along with recent enhancements like the ColorClarity dyeing technology for crisp color definition and NaturalTwist, which blends yarns of different lusters and thicknesses for elevated effects.

Welborn notes that, despite Shaw’s strong PET offering, it’s still the king of nylon, noting that the higher-end Anderson Tuftex brand is still dominated by nylon, and nylon is still significant in Shaw Floors and remains competitive even in the 25-ounce entry-level market, though there’s been a decline.

Over the last year or so, Anderson Tuftex has expanded its offering, following an assessment that there was room for growth on the upper end of the market. The brand added decorative styles made of imported wool, which have been well received. Anderson Tuftex outperformed Shaw Floors in carpet in 2025.

Last year, Shaw’s carpet business was most challenged in the builder market, followed by multifamily. Specialty retail was healthiest but still down over the previous year. Prior to the conflict with Iran, Shaw’s 2026 carpet business was looking stronger.

Mohawk Industries’ U.S. carpet sales were down in 2025 but close to even with the market to an estimated $1.46 billion. About 70% of those revenues come from its residential offering, which is dominated by its massive PET program, manufactured from the industry’s largest volume of recycled polymer—the firm has recycled 60 billion plastic bottles to turn into new fiber over the last decade. Also notable is Mohawk’s unique SmartStrand line of carpet with triexta face fiber, a polymer whose ingredients feature high bio-based content. A smaller volume of its residential carpet, largely in the higher-end Karastan brand, is made of nylon or wool.

Semaan describes 2025 as a year defined by disciplined portfolio evolution and meaningful innovation. The most notable innovation over the last year is undoubtedly Pur-Ease technology, a proprietary treatment that helped the firm’s SmartStrand Color Wall carpet styles to achieve Asthma & Allergy Friendly Certification. The technology uses probiotics to reduce allergens like dander and pollen by up to 75% compared with untreated carpet, according to the firm. And the probiotics survive hot water extraction cleaning, extending the life of the treatment in line with the warranty, notes Semaan.

The firm also expanded its Pet Premier portfolio with new constructions, including heavier face weights, and updated colorations, many with a warmer hue.

Semaan reports that the middle of the market has been slowest, with homeowners pulling back from whole-home renovations in favor of smaller projects—and many are taking a wait-and-see approach. At the higher end, consumers with relatively high discretionary income have helped drive business. And at the lower end, 25-ounce commodity carpet has been fairly stable. 

In late 2024, the firm introduced the Black Label line to its Karastan brand, featuring a range of imported decorative carpet styles made of wool and synthetic face fibers. And it also unveiled its Made To Order Studio that fabricates its carpet into custom area rugs and runners.

Engineered Floors (EF), comprising the DreamWeaver retail brand, Dwellings for builder business, EF Multifamily, Pentz for mainstreet, and J+J Flooring and EF Contract for the specified commercial market, has grown into an industry giant since its founding by Bob Shaw 17 years ago. Floor Focus estimates that Engineered Floors’ carpet sales slipped marginally last year to $1.27 billion, reflecting a slight gain in share, with commercial business outpacing residential. The firm took modest carpet share last year.

On the residential side, EF is entirely focused on PET carpet, the fiber that launched the firm back in 2009, originally centered on the multifamily market. On the commercial side, it produces broadloom and carpet tile in solution-dyed nylon and PET, as well as its Kinetex hybrid PET carpet tiles and an LVT program. For the residential market, EF’s PureGrain brand includes high-def SPC produced at the firm’s Dalton, Georgia facility, along with sourced SPC and WPC programs, laminate and flex LVT.

EF’s biggest residential markets are residential remodel and home centers—the firm reports share gains at Lowe’s and Home Depot—followed by multifamily, then single-family builder. EF president James Lesslie reports more unit contraction in builder and multifamily than in retail. The challenge in the multifamily market comes from LVT, generally flex LVT, that not only takes share from carpet but also slows down the replacement cycle because it last longer than carpet.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Interface is a unique player in the carpet industry as the only carpet tile specialist—all the other players have substantial broadloom offerings. Most of the firm’s revenues come from the commercial market, including its residential Flor brand, which goes to not just homeowners but also mainstreet and specified commercial applications. 

According to Jim Poppens, Interface’s chief commercial officer, referencing the firm’s One Interface strategy, launched in 2023, that unifies global selling teams, including Nora and Interface, “A key highlight has been the strength of our integrated selling model, particularly in the Americas, where combining our Interface and Nora teams has allowed us to better serve customers and capture more opportunities across the full floor plate.”

U.S. carpet sales grew 3.7% last year to an estimated $532.2 million. Healthcare billings were up 21% last year, education was up 8% and corporate recorded marginal growth, with Poppens noting, “We continue to see strength in higher-end Class A spaces, where customers are investing in quality environments to support hybrid work and employee experience.”

Poppens reports continued interest in the firm’s Flor brand on the commercial side. The square format tiles were originally launched for the residential market, including mainstreet commercial, but in recent years Flor has seen increased demand in the contract market. Floor Focus estimates that Flor sales were about flat last year at $40 million, with gains in specified commercial balanced against sales into the weaker residential and mainstreet markets.

For a full report on Interface, see next month’s Commercial Market Report.

The Dixie Group’s carpet business had a comparatively healthy year, with revenues down about 1% to an estimated $215 million, while U.S. carpet consumption was down closer to 4%. Dixie’s net sales were down 2.9% to $257.4 million, mostly reflecting sluggish resilient flooring sales.

Dixie goes to market with three principal brands—Fabrica, Masland and DH Floors. With price points starting in the middle of the market, DH Floors’ portfolio is mostly made up of broadloom and rigid LVT, along with a smaller hardwood offering. While DH Floors’ brand sales were down 5%—in part due to underperformance in resilient flooring sales, currently being addressed by narrowing and retooling the offering—its PET carpet was up over 20%.

TM Nuckols, president of The Dixie Group, notes that DH Floors’ “intentional move toward PET” has paid dividends, with sales of that fiber type up more than 20% last year. It’s worth noting that nylon face fiber still makes up the bulk of DH Floors’ carpet offering. It currently offers over 100 styles in nylon compared to about 26 in PET. 

Across all brands, nylon makes up 75% of the mix, followed by wool at 15% and PET at 10%. Nylon remains a major focus for the firm, which launched its own nylon extrusion operation two years ago, and it offers a massive color range through both solution-dyed and piece-dyed programs, along with a recently streamlined custom color program across all brands.

Masland’s sales were down about 2% last year, although its decorative carpet sub-brand, 1866 by Masland, showed growth, as did the Décor by Fabrica sub-brand. Overall, its decorative carpet and rug business—approximately two thirds broadloom and one third rugs—was up 2% to 3%. And the Fabrica brand was strongest last year, up 1%, led by 20% growth in its wood business. In terms of 2026 to date, carpet business is lagging behind last year’s pace.